Between the taping of The Editors and my teenagers’ need for me to be their personal Uber driver this afternoon, I was unable to go into D.C. for the big rally in support of Israel. But the turnout appears to have been huge, and watching the live feed, I’ve watched spectacularly resolute speeches in support of Israel from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, GOP senator Joni Ernst, and House speaker Mike Johnson. Jeffries affirmed, “Israel has an absolute right to defend itself against Hamas terror, always and forever.”
The four held hands while chanting, “We stand with Israel!”
It is a weird turn of events when I find myself applauding the eloquent expression of the collective sense of betrayal articulated by . . . Hollywood celebrity/activist Debra Messing: “I know you feel alone and abandoned by your friends. . . . We have been hit by a tsunami of hate, and then a deafening silence. . . . We are not alone when we have each other.” (Is this what it feels like to have Hollywood celebrities saying things you agree with? I could get used to this.)
As mentioned in Monday’s Jolt, alongside America’s Jews, there are a whole heck of a lot of American gentiles mad as hell about these open expressions of antisemitism.
We can, and should, denounce the idiotic, false, incendiary and provocative things said by Rashida Tlaib and the other members of the “Squad.” But we shouldn’t mistake those lawmakers’ volume for influence. They remain the fringe. They don’t speak for the American majority. And the Biden administration had better remember that, too.